In protein or animal rendering and processing plants it is desirable to make use of as much of the animal as possible and reduce or eliminate waste from the process. When protein or animals are processed portions are removed that are considered suitable for human consumption, while other portions of the animal are used for other purposes such as making food for other animals or other goods.
Regarding portions and processes producing products not suitable for human consumption, one example is dog and cat food. In a processing plant there are waste streams that contain a significant amount of nutrition that is not always recovered. One particular waste stream comprises processing plant water used to wash and clean the animal at various stations within the processing plant. Animal byproducts such as blood, fat, skin, bone and meat particles are mixed with and wash away with the water as a waste stream and are not recovered. However if the waste stream were treated according to the teachings of the present invention, the water mixture of these waste streams contain a great deal of fats and proteins that can be recovered. It is therefore desirable to provide additional systems that allow for the recovery of animal byproducts, which can then be used to provide additional nutrition. One particular example is that pet food can then be enhanced with the protein or fats recovered from the waste stream, thereby providing a better pet food product.
It is also desirable to conserve or reuse water and to capture animal byproducts that will be suitable for human consumption, particularly in the downstream process stations where the dressed animal or animal parts are placed in a chilled water skimmer tank for a period of time. During such processes a lot of water is chilled to a desirable temperature and then used to wash the animal, thereby washing away a lot of animal byproducts. Filtering and reusing the water saves energy in the form of water and cooling energy as well as allowing the filtration of animal byproducts such as fats and proteins, which can be used for human consumption. It is desirable to provide a solution for removing the animal byproducts using mechanical processes and to conserve resources, such as fresh water and energy for cooling the water in the system.